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Alice Comedies

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Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

The Alice Comedies are a series of silent, black-and-white short films produced by Walt Disney in the 1920s, pioneering the hybrid live-action and animation format. Each short follows a real-life girl named Alice (first portrayed by Virginia Davis) as she embarks on adventures in a whimsical animated world alongside characters like Julius the Cat, Disney's first named animated creation, and Pete, who later became a recurring Disney franchise character.

Key moments

  • Early 1920sWalt Disney creates the pilot short *Alice's Wonderland* at Laugh-O-Gram Studio, facing financial difficulties that would lead to the studio's closure
  • October 16, 1923The official Alice Comedies series launches, marking the debut of Disney Brothers Studio (the predecessor to The Walt Disney Company)
  • 1924-1925Over 50 shorts in the series are released; Virginia Davis stars as Alice initially, with Margie Gay taking over the role in later entries
  • N/AThe series establishes Disney's early reputation for innovative animation, laying creative groundwork for future iconic characters like Mickey Mouse

A Pivotal Creative and Commercial Step for Disney

After the collapse of his Laugh-O-Gram Studio, the Alice Comedies were Disney's make-or-break project that stabilized his career. The hybrid live-action/animation concept was unique for the 1920s, attracting audiences and securing distribution deals that kept the studio afloat. It also allowed Disney to refine animation techniques and storytelling styles that would define his later work.

Legacy of Character and Format Innovation

The series introduced Julius the Cat, Disney's first animated character with a consistent identity, and Pete, who evolved from a minor antagonist in the Comedies to a long-running Disney villain. Beyond characters, the live-animation hybrid formula inspired subsequent Disney projects and influenced the broader animation industry, proving that blending real and animated worlds could resonate with viewers.

The Alice Comedies are a series of live-action animated shorts created by Walt Disney and produced by Winkler Pictures. It features a live action little girl named Alice (originally played by Virginia Davis) and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an animated landscape. The shorts were the first series by what ultimately became Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Alice's Wonderland

Disney, Ub Iwerks, and their staff made the first Alice Comedy, a one-reel (ten-minute) 1923 short subject titled Alice's Wonderland, while still heading the failing Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri.[1]

Alice's Wonderland begins with Alice entering a cartoon studio to witness cartoons being created. Alice is amazed by what she sees: the cartoon characters come to life and play around. After heading to bed that night, she dreams of being in the cartoon world, welcomed by all of the characters. Alice plays with them until a group of lions break free from a cage and chase her. Though never released theatrically, this short pioneered live-action animated films with its contemporary, Bray Productions' Out of the Inkwell series.

The Alice Comedies series begins

After completing the film, the studio went bankrupt and was forced to shut down. After raising money by working as a freelance photographer, Disney bought a one-way train ticket to Los Angeles, California to live with his uncle Robert and his brother Roy. In California, Disney continued to send out proposals for the Alice series, in hopes of obtaining a distribution agreement. A deal was finally arranged through Winkler Pictures, run by Margaret Winkler[2] and her fiancé, Charles Mintz. Because of a recent falling out with Pat Sullivan, the studio needed a quick replacement for their centerpiece Felix the Cat animated series.[3] Disney convinced Davis's family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series.[4]

Shorts and subsequent releases

Walt Disney directed all 57 films in this series. Over the course of the series, four actresses played Alice: Virginia Davis (15), Margie Gay (31), Dawn O'Day (1) and Lois Hardwick (10). The film Alice in the Jungle contains only archival footage of Virginia Davis.

Non-theatrical distribution of Alice's Wonderland was handled by the New York branch of Pictorial Clubs Inc. through an arrangement with Pathé Exchange,[5][6] who copyrighted the short as Alice in Slumberland on September 29, 1926.[7] In May 1926, it was announced that Film Booking Offices of America would release what would ultimately be the last 26 shorts in the series.[8] The copyrights to the FBO-released shorts were assigned to R-C Pictures, while the copyrights to Alice Solves the Puzzle and Alice Wins the Derby were assigned to M. J. Winkler.[7] In March 1930, Raytone Pictures (later known as Syndicate Pictures) announced it was re-releasing 18 Alice Comedies shorts with music and sound recorded by Brunswick.[9] They were released between September 1, 1930 and May 15, 1931.[10][11]

The shorts in this series are now all in the public domain in the United States. In 2000, Inkwell Images released Alice in Cartoonland – The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney in VHS, and in 2007 in DVD as part of the Golden Classics series with ten of the films as well as a documentary, poster gallery, and DVD ROM. In 2007, Kit Parker Films released another DVD called Alice in Cartoonland: The 35mm Collector's Set. In 2005 and again in 2007, ten shorts in the series were released as part of the Walt Disney Treasures series. Seven were part of the Disney Rarities that was released in 2005, while three more were released as part of The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, released in 2007.

In 2016, Alice shorts held by the EYE Film Institute in Amsterdam were restored for global re-release.[12]

A total of 16 Alice Comedies shorts are thought to be lost, and 1 Alice Comedies short (Alice's Auto Race) has been partially found.

See also

  • Animation in the United States during the silent era
  • Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

External links

  • The Alice Comedies at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.
  • Alice in Cartoonland - The Original Alice Comedies by Walt Disney

References

  1. Jeff Lenburg. The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons Checkmark Books, 1999, retrieved 16 May 2020^
  2. Daryl Austin. The story of the Hungarian immigrant who funded Walt Disney Newsweek, 2019-12-21, retrieved 2019-12-21^
  3. M. J. Winkler Productions Big Cartoon DataBase, retrieved December 20, 2015^
  4. The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story, Leslie Iwerks, Walt Disney Pictures, 1999^
  5. 1000 and One: The Blue Book of Non-Theatrical Films The Educational Screen, 1927^
  6. Pathe Exchange, Inc. To Distribute for Pictorial Clubs The Educational Screen, 1926-09-20^
  7. Russell Merritt, J. B. Kaufman. Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993^
  8. 26 Pictures in Krazy Kat and "Alice" Comics Exhibitors Herald, 1926-05-08^
  9. Raytone to Produce Talking Westerns Exhibitors Daily Review and Motion Pictures Today, 1930-03-26^
  10. The Short Feature Exhibitors Herald World, 1930-12-13^
  11. The Short Picture Motion Picture Herald, 1931-05-23^
  12. Lumière Festival: Walt Disney's 'Alice Comedies' Being Restored, Distributed by France's Malavida Variety, retrieved October 17, 2016^